


Stay with Me

by MarieQuiteContrarie (SeaStar1330)



Series: All of Me [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Chubby Belle, F/M, Falling In Love, Ficlet, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-16 23:57:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9295319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeaStar1330/pseuds/MarieQuiteContrarie
Summary: For my 1,000 Follower Tumblr Prompt-A-Thon, Anonymous prompted: All of Me Belle – Honey, what will your parents say? Do they even know where you are?





	

**Author's Note:**

> This ficlet takes place between chapters 9 and 10 of All of Me. I’ll be writing this in Chapter 10 from Gold’s POV, so here you go, Anon.

Belle stroked Gold’s brow lovingly; at last, he was sound asleep, the creases in his forehead smoothed and relaxed, and the muscles in his body lax in healing slumber.

For the past hour, he had floated in and out of an eerie nightmare, babbling incoherently about Neal, tanks, and foxholes. Occasionally his eyes would open, but they were glassy, unseeing, the line between sleep and wakefulness blurred.

Easing her hand out of his grasp, Belle left her bedside vigil and tiptoed toward the door in search of the guest bedroom he had offered earlier that evening during the house tour. Rain continued to fall, now hitting the rooftop in soft patters. She was exhausted, and her drooping head needed to find a pillow.

“Belle?” Gold’s voice was low and hoarse in the dark. 

She stopped in her tracks, then hurried back to the bed, pressing her thighs against the side of the mattress as she leaned over him.

“Yes,” she brushed the backs of her fingers across his warm, scratchy cheek, reassuring him of her presence. “Yes, I’m here.”

“Please. I don’t want to be…Stay.”

His dark eyes met hers. They glittered in the blackness, wide, lucid, and achingly alone.   

Belle wrung her damp palms together, her heart clobbering against her rib cage in an indecisive beat. If she slept in the bed with him, he would feel and see _everything_. 

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she chided herself for being selfish. Erskine cared about her. He’d shown her and told her in so many wonderful ways. Now she had an opportunity to be brave and care for him in return; to be there when he needed her.

Belle gulped, then padded around to the other side of the bed. She smoothed her hands over the cool, empty place on the mattress, hesitating.  _It’s no different than sleeping in his arms on the sofa_.

She slid under the sheets and scooted into the middle of the bed, not quite touching him, but drawing as close as possible without making contact. 

“Sleep now, darling,” she crooned. “Sleep.”

He shifted onto his side, facing her. “Thank you,” he breathed, closing his eyes.

Belle lay on her back and stared up at the ceiling while her mind sifted today’s trials. Her father’s and Edith’s faces emerged as fuzzy shapes in her tired brain—she never  _had_  called to tell them where she would be spending the night.

 _Tough_ , she thought bitterly, turning from her back to her side to face her boyfriend once more. Belle reached out to stroke a damp piece of hair off his forehead. She would deal with Edith and Daddy tomorrow.

All that mattered right now was Erskine.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
